
The last Sacramento Mountains checkerspot butterfly has died
The last known caterpillar that could have become a Sacramento Mountains checkerspot butterfly has died.
The term for an animal that is the sole survivor of a species is endling. In a sense, we are all endlings—each the last of our kind.
The loss of a species is not simply the loss of a biological category—it is the loss of countless unique individuals and their collective potential.
Each of us is the bearer of a singular and unrepeatable world. This is a memento mori, a reminder to honor what is fragile and irreducible in all beings.